The hearing, which is scheduled to run through Thursday, May 23, will be closed to the public, acting Superintendent Rob Olsen said.

Board President Bo Snyder said in March that the the proceedings have to be conducted according to the
standard rules of arbitration as well as Perry's contract and the board did not have option of a public hearing.

The hearing will be held at the Park Club in downtown Kalamazoo. Peter Houk,
who spent almost a decade as Ingham County prosecutor and another 17
years as a circuit court judge, will be the arbitrator resolving the dispute.

Houk will decide whether Perry is due additional money from the district.

An investigation commissioned by the board last fall found Perry was having an affair with Patricia Koeze, whom Perry hired last year as the district's human resources director.

In response to the investigator's findings, the board suspended Perry in December and began the process to fire him for cause.

Perry and Koeze both resigned in January under protest.

Perry has maintained that his actions did not violate his contract and he was unfairly forced out. Perry signed a two-year contract in March 2012.

The contract requires him to submit any contract disputes to binding arbitration versus filing a lawsuit.